Fence post support

ABSTRACT

A fence post support resting on the surface of the ground and including a fence post receiving socket extending upwardly therefrom. A base plate underlies the socket. Drift pins are driven through angularly positioned brackets on the socket through slots in the base plate to enter the ground at an angle of about 45* to the vertical to lock the fence post support to the ground. Fence posts are supported in the fence post sockets to carry fencing in a conventional manner.

Jackson May,7, 1974 [76] Inventor:

[ 1 FENCE POST SUPPORT Robert B. Jackson, 410 SW. 130th Ave., Beaverton, Oreg. 97005 [22] Filed: Feb. 2, 1973 [21] Appl. N0.: 328,970

[52] US. Cl. 248/44, 248/156 [51] Int. Cl. F16m 13/00 [58] Field of Search 248/44, 156; 52/296, 297, 52/298 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,598,016 8/1926 Runser 248/44 2,883,247 4/1959 Thompson 248/156 3,311,333 3/1967 Galloway 248/44 1,705,742 3/1929 Werner 52/296 X Black 5 2/298 X 546,161 9/1895 Kimball 52/297 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 601,363 7/1960 Canada 248/44 I Primary Examiner-William H. Schultz Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Herman, Bishoff & Platt [5 7] ABSTRACT A fence post support resting on the surface of the ground and including a fence post receiving socket extending upwardly therefrom. A base plate underlies the socket. Drift pins are driven through angularly positioned brackets on the socket through slots in the base plate to enter the ground at an angle of about 45 to the vertical to lock the fence post support to the ground. Fence posts are supported in the fence post sockets to carry fencing in a conventional manner.

7 Claims, SDrawing Figures FENCE POST SUPPORT BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to fence post supports for supporting fence posts on the surface of the ground.

2. Summary of the Invention The present fence post support includes a generally horizontal base plate having elongate slots opening downwardly therethrough adjacent the comers of the plate. An upstanding socket member is secured centrally of the base plate and has an open top to receive a fence post to be supported therein. Brackets are secured to the sides of the socket member in alignedrelation respectively to the slots in the base plate so that a drift pin or rock bolt may be driven therethrough into the supporting surface of earth or rock. Conventional fence posts are supported in the socket for carrying fencing in the usual manner.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a fence post support for use on the surface of the ground to eliminate the fast deterioration of fence posts when supported in holes in the ground and eliminate the cost and labor of preparing post holes.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in light of the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the invention shown supporting a fence post and fence;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the fence post supports;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, the reference numeral indicates generally a fence post support constructed in accordance with the invention.

The fence post supports 10 are adapted for use with line fence posts 11 carrying a section of fencing l2 thereon.

The fence post support 10 is constructed with a generally rectangular base plate 13 which normally extends horizontally in contact with the surface of the ground on which it is supported. In the event that the ground surface slopes where it is desired that the base be horizontal, then the surface will be leveled to underlie the base plate 13 by either digging out the ground or building up the surface to provide the desired level conditions.

A generally rectangular metallic socket member 14 having a flange l5 integrally secured to the lower end thereof is supported centrally on the base plate 13 and has the flange 15 secured thereto by spot welding 16. The socket member 14 has a pair of oppositely disposed side walls 17, 18 which are arranged in spaced apart parallel relation.

The plate 13 is provided with elongate slots 19, 20 21 and 22 adjacent the corners thereof with the slots 19, 20, 21 and 22 arranged in spaced parallel relation.

A pair of L-shaped brackets 23, 24 are secured to the side wall 17 by welding and are arranged at a 45 angle to the vertical as can be seen in FIG. 5. Each of the brackets 23, 24 has a bore 25 extending therethrough in general aligned relation with one of the slots 19, 20, 21 and 22.

The second pair of generally L-shaped brackets 26, 27 are secured to the side wall 18 by spot welding and are arranged with the bores 28 therein aligned with the slots 22, 19 respectively in the base plate 13.

Drift pins 29 having heads 30 thereon are inserted through the bores 25, 28 of the brackets 23, 24, 26, 27 respectively and then extend through one of the slots 19, 20, 21 and 22 and are driven into the ground in order to lock the post support 10 to the ground. The drift pins 29 extend at an angle of about 45 to the vertical and spread outwardly from the post support 10, as can be seen in FIG. 2.

The drift pins 29 may be replaced with rock bolts when the conditions underlying the post supports 10 will not accept driven drift pins 29 in the manner described above.

The socket 14 is formed rectangular to receive two adjacent two-by-four fence posts but may be cylindrical when using generally cylindrical fence posts of a conventional nature. A drain hole 31 opens through the plate 13 centrally of the socket 14 to drain off water therefrom.

In the use and operation of the invention, the post supports 10 are positioned along the surface to be fenced and preconstructed fence sections are positioned with their posts in the post support sockets 14 to establish the spacing therebetween. The drift pins 29 are then driven into place so as to lock the fence post supports 10 against further movement with respect to the ground.

In the event that preconstructed fence sections are not used, .the fence post supports 10 can be positioned by carefully measuring the distance therebetween. Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A fence post support comprising a base plate having a plurality of spaced apart elongate slots extending downwardly therethrough, a socket member rigidly secured centrally of said base plate and extending upwardly therefrom and being open at the upper end thereof, a plurality of bracket members rigidly secured to said socket member and arranged at an angle of 45 to the vertical with each of said bracket members having a bore arranged in aligned relation to a selected one of said slots, and securing members extending through each of said bores and slots for driving into a supporting surface at an angle of approximately 45.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said brackets is L-shaped and having one leg welded to the socket member and the other leg including said bore.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said socket member is of rectangular cross-section, a pair of said bracket members being secured to each of at least two opposite sides of the socket member, the legs of said pairs of bracket members having said bores being disposed at right angle to one another, whereby said securing members extending through the bores of each pair of bracket members are also disposed at angle to one another.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said securing members are driven drift pins.

right rigidly secured to said support plate. 

1. A fence post support comprising a base plate having a plurality of spaced apart elongate slots extending downwardly therethrough, a socket member rigidly secured centrally of said base plate and extending upwardly therefrom and being open at the upper end thereof, a plurality of bracket members rigidly secured to said socket member and arranged at an angle of 45* to the vertical with each of said bracket members having a bore arranged in aligned relation to a selected one of said slots, and securing members extending through each of said bores and slots for driving into a supporting surface at an angle of approximately 45*.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said brackets is L-shaped and having one leg welded to the socket member and the other leg including said bore.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said socket member is of rectangular cross-section, a pair of said bracket members being secured to each of at least two opposite sides of the socket member, the legs of said pairs of bracket members having said bores being disposed at right angle to one another, whereby said securing members extending through the bores of each pair of bracket members are also disposed at right angle to one another.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said securing members are driven drift pins.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said securing members are rock bolts.
 6. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said base plate is generally rectangular and said slots are formed in said base plate adjacent each corner thereof.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said socket member is generally rectAngular in form and has a flange integrally secured to the lower edge thereof and rigidly secured to said support plate. 